Running shoes

Running shoes

Running shoes, in addition to the basic division between men's running shoes and women's running shoes, are divided into several categories according to various criteria. Our filter will help you with the selection of the right running shoes for you. Filter is available on top of the page at each of the running categories. Below you can find more detailed information about different types of running shoes. 

According to the type of surface on which we run, we can divide the running sneakers:

Road running shoes or ROAD 

It is probably the most widely used running shoe, used for day by day running training and racing on hard and semi-hard surfaces such as asphalt, concrete or tartan.

Trail running shoes or TRAIL / OFF-ROAD 

The various sports shoes are being designed for recently increasingly popular trail running or running in the wild, for runners and ultrarunners who love to move around the forest paths, lodged roads, hiking trails, alpine country, unexplored areas of national parks, in any weather conditions. For this run on unpaved, rocky, muddy and often waterlogged surface are designed Trail Running Shoes (also referred to as OFF-ROAD). Same as with road running shoes, we further divided by type of use for training and racing. The most important selection criteria are type of sole, the shoe upper and level of resistance to water and weather conditions. 

Depending on the type of activity we can devide running shoes into:

Performance / training running shoes or PERFORMANCE 

It is particularly suitable for large volumes of training kilometers.

Racing running shoes or RACING 

RACING running shoes are designed primarily for road and trail races from the shortest distances of typically 5 km to the special shoes for marathons and ultramarathons. Compared to daily trainers, they are characterized by lower weight, less cushionging and primary lower drop (heel to toe differential) so sometimes they can be referred to with the name RACING FLAT. We recommend using racing running shoes also for some speed and intensive trainings, so the body get used to them before the racing. Proper racing shoes over longer distances (marathon and more km) should be comfortable, with adequate support and cushioning.

According to the biomechanics of the foot and body predisposition such as foot strike and foot pronation, running shoes can be subdivided into:

Neutral running shoes also known as NEUTRAL  

These are designed for runners with a higher archs, without excessive pronation, with effective foot biomechanics (which includes the slight supination) and generally for individuals with lighter body structure. These running shoes are often lighter than other models (therefore often referred also as LIGHTWEIGHT), with a minimum of special components designed to stabilize the arch during the foot strike. Stability support in the middle and on the sides of the inner sole / midsole is the same. They are designed for fast, powerful runners. For this reason, runners are frequently using them for the speed and intensive trainings, but also as racing running shoe.

Running shoes with support, referred to as STABILITY or SUPPORT 

In these shoes, there is usually some form of support structure of the foot, ankle and arch to prevent excessive pronation (excessive inward tread of the foot), and are primarily intended for runners with excessive pronation or low-archs. Excessive pronation is generally associated with some running injuries/anomalies, so it is important to choose a type of shoe that best suits your needs. 

By level of cushioning/suspension, we currently observe two contradictory trends in running shoes on:

Minimalist running shoes, or MINIMALIST / BAREFOOT

Compare to classic running shoes there is minimal DROP toe and heel and reduced levels cushioning and suspension during the foot strike. These are very lightweight and flexible shoes. A special category within minimalist shoes category are barefoot running shoes, which brings the runners almost identical feel, as if running with bare feet, with zero DROP. However the trainer still provides perfect contact of the feet with surface and also protects the foot from injury.

Cushioned running shoes / CUSHIONING

These are primarily designed for runners with little or no pronation. Provide increased protection, better shock absorption while maintaining sufficient comfort, but almost no additional support for strong pronators or runners with extremely high or low arches. Generally, cushioned running shoes are great year-round training shoes for many runners thanks to their versatility - provide sufficient protection for kilometers of training and still are quite versatile and flexible for both longer slow runs or faster tempo runs.

Many companies now offer cushioned running shoes in light weight versions, so we can also, as with neutral running shoes, come across the terms like LIGHTWEIGHT CUSHIONING or lightweight cushioning shoe.

Finally, it should be noted that at present the manufacturers of running shoes in different models seek to combine several functions of the above categories to meet the best needs of the individual runners. So it often happens that one and the same shoe appears in multiple categories. That just means that even more emphasis must be placed on the correct selection of the correct running shoes based on respective needs of each individual runner.